Who are you? Thalia Grace? Or Artemis' Lieutenant?
by sneag
Summary: An attempt to write a slightly more realistic NicoxThalia.  ie. taking more than a thirty second conversation to fall in love.  M for language, yes definitely M for language.
1. Chapter the first

This isn't really my usual thing but I'm secretly a hopeless romantic and couldn't help myself. I've tried to keep the characters in character but they will end up speaking differently than in the books - as a brit I refuse to stoop to using americanisms, so expect to see things like mobile phone instead of cell phone, ring instead of call, stuff like that. I will also have them swear foully, even dropping the c-bomb occasionally - just figured you should get a warning.

Once again, I apologise: this bloody website ruins any and all attempts at proper formatting.

* * *

><p>Thalia Grace was less than happy. Not unhappy either, just... melancholy. Artemis had business at Olympus over the summer solstice so the hunters were in camp half-blood for the first time in years. This in itself wasn't a bad thing – Thalia got to see Annabeth, Percy and all her other friends again, but everything had changed. Percy and Annabeth were eighteen and so lovey-dovey that it made Thalia physically sick, a myriad of new cabins had popped up and Grover was away doing naturey stuff. Even her tree had grown a few feet taller. So Thalia was on her way to the one place she was sure wouldn't have changed: Zeus' Fist.<p>

Traipsing through the woods she was stopped by the sound of voices.  
>'We got your stuff.' Even after two years Thalia could recognise a Stoll voice. 'But we don't want any money.'<br>'What do you want?' A new voice, deep and old fashioned, pronouncing every word correctly, with a hint of something else in the accent. Thalia couldn't place it, so went into hunter mode – sneaking closer to get a look.  
>'We want a haunting.' The Stoll twins hadn't changed; oh a bit taller to be sure but the mischievous grins hadn't changed – probably never would either.<br>'Oh aye?' This was the other voice. He was tall, at least six foot, wearing blue jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows. Dark messy hair, cut shortish, covered the back of his head; Thalia couldn't see his face.  
>'You'll enjoy this one Nico. The Aphrodite cabin. As scary as you can make it without them knowing it was you. Or us.' Thalia's eyes widened. Nico? Everything really had changed.<br>'Why?'  
>One of the Stolls shifted awkwardly before answering. 'Can't you just do it without knowing?'<br>'The better the reason, the better the haunting. Come on Travis, out with it.' Nico answered, sounding decidedly amused.  
>'They've been taking the piss out of Katie for going out with me.' Travis mumbled, looking at his feet. Nico and Connor burst out laughing. 'Piss off! It's really starting to get to her' Travis snapped crossly.<br>'Sorry Travis.' Nico said, still chuckling. 'Tell you what; I'll get the best ghost I know on it.'  
>Connor looked perplexed on his brother's behalf. 'Who? And why? You hardly know Katie.'<br>'Alfred Hitchcock. The man's a genius. And why? You know why. Man Code. If you like her, I'll at least pretend to like her.'  
>'So, what, don't you like her?' Travis looked slightly worried.<br>'Like you said, I hardly know her. Seems nice enough though.' Nico answered with a shrug.  
>Connor handed Nico a backpack. 'Here's your stuff, mate. We'll get you the other half when the haunting's done.'<br>A tone of mock hurt crept into Nico's voice. 'Don't you trust me?'  
>The twins laughed. 'We trust you just fine, but we haven't been able to get the rest yet.'<br>Nico nodded. 'Fair enough. When do you want the haunting done?'  
>'Tonight, and every night until they leave Katie alone.' Travis replied.<br>'Alright, I'll see you gents at capture the flag tomorrow.' Nico clapped the Stolls on the shoulder as they left. When they had gone Nico opened the backpack and withdrew a cigarette box. He took one out and lit it before putting the box in the fold up of his left sleeve. He took a drag and exhaled slowly before saying. 'How on earth do you manage to hunt anything when you glow silver?'

Thalia sighed, got up and stood next to him. 'I suppose animals are really stupid. Y'know, I was expecting you to be more emo.'  
>He didn't even look at her, just waved a dismissive hand. 'No-one's afraid of an emo'<br>'You want people to fear you?'  
>'It has its uses. Besides, I'm the son of Hades; I'm not going to be loved – that's more Percy's gig.' He still didn't look at her, just leant on a tree, seemingly staring at a patch of woodland identical to the rest.<br>Thalia thought very carefully about her next words before deciding it was worth the risk. 'You hate me don't you? Because of the whole Bianca huntress thing.' She winced, waiting for the explosion she was sure was coming. She couldn't contain her surprise when he just chuckled.  
>He noticed. 'I'm over it, mostly; just don't insult her and we'll be fine.'<br>Thalia was really surprised now. 'You have changed haven't you?'  
>'People do; us mortals do anyway' Nico answered wryly and Thalia couldn't but wonder if he was getting at something. She decided to continue with her line of enquiry.<br>'So, do you hate me?'  
>'I don't hate the hunters; that would imply that I gave a shit. I just hold them in contempt – a group of four-year-olds who got dumped and instead of getting up and moving on with their lives run away and hide from the world blaming all men for the actions of one.'<br>Thalia was insulted. 'And what do you know about it?' She snapped angrily.  
>Nico just took another drag of his cigarette and said, quite mildly. 'I've had my heart broken you know.'<br>'Yeah. Right.' Thalia still wasn't happy.  
>'I'd been going out with this girl, loved her too, for about eight months before I found out the cunt had been sleeping around for the last three.'<br>'Oh, so instead of moving on you held a grudge instead. Hypocrite!'  
>'No, I got my revenge instead. Much more fun.'<br>'So you beat up a poor defenceless girl, who's the coward?'  
>'Of course not! What do you take me for?' Showing an emotion other than mild amusement for the first time; then, calming down again. 'I sent a letter.'<br>Thalia's curiosity finally overcame her anger. 'A letter?'  
>'To her parents. It detailed exactly what she had done and with which boys, and her weed habit.' He grinned. 'Her parents basically have her under house arrest now. She's not allowed out unless it's with one of them and even in her house she's barely left alone for an hour at a time.'<br>Thalia had to laugh. 'Okay, I admit that's pretty good. But you still haven't answered my question.'  
>Nico thought for a moment. 'I don't hate Thalia Grace.' He carried on talking over the sound of displeasure at the use of her last name. 'From what I hear she's brave, funny.' He shrugged. 'Someone who could be a friend.' Thalia opened her mouth to say something but Nico hadn't finished. 'The Lieutenant of Artemis, now. She's a bitch. A coward who got hurt once so she runs and hides rather than face her problems head on, just like any other hunter.' Once more, she tried to get a word in edgeways but he still wouldn't let her. Nico looked at her for the first time, straight in the eye and Thalia was transfixed by a pair of eyes such a dark brown it was hard to tell where iris ended and pupil began. 'The question is; which are you? Thalia Grace? Or Artemis' Lieutenant?'<br>She was struck dumb for a moment then tried to cover her slip by replying as forcefully and indignantly as possible. 'I'm Thalia, obviously.'  
>Nico's eyes never left hers. 'Prove it.' Then, without waiting for a reply, he hefted his backpack and melted away in the nearest shadow.<p>

Thalia was left alone. Wishing she could. Hating herself for not being able to.

* * *

><p>Well I hope it was worth the read. By the by, I never got why people felt the need to disclaim on this site. Unless the stupider among you think the owners of this stuff try out ideas on here it's pretty clear that if we did own it we would have put it in a book and made lots of lovely money.<p> 


	2. Chapter the second

I'm going to try formatting this slightly differently to see if it's any easier to read. If the consensus is that it is then I'll go over the previous chapter and format it like this too.

I don't think this chapter is as good as the last one but it's necessary for story development.

* * *

><p>The Aphrodite cabin didn't show any physical signs of their haunting, obviously. Lashings of makeup made sure of that, even, Nico suspected, on the male members of that cabin. This isn't to say that there were no signs to pick up on – temperamentally they looked an inch from snapping completely. Sudden noises, footsteps behind them, even sustained periods of silence were wont to send them into fits of hysterics. Nico felt his work was done – they wouldn't be getting on anyone's case until they recovered and if they chose Katie Gardener again, well, Nico could always arrange another visit from Mr Hitchcock. Another bonus of their current state of mental wellbeing was that they definitely wouldn't be making an appearance in capture the flag; where everyone agreed they were more of a hindrance than a help.<p>

-.-

Soon after the Second Titan war Chiron had convinced Hades and Apollo to put a blessing on the area of the forest used for capture the flag: during games it was impossible to die there. Hades' blessing would hold the mortally wounded an inch from death, mercifully unconscious, and as soon as a winner was declared Apollo's blessing would heal any wounds that would take more than a few days to heal. So the campers could run around killing each other with abandon, making capture the flag much more useful for training purposes, then go sit around the campfire with nothing more than aches and pains. Lots of aches and pains.

-.-

Nico had just finished putting on his armour and was about to leave for the forest when the hunters came by.

'Thought you'd left the emo look behind?' Thalia's question was understandable – Nico's armour was vambraces on his forearms, spaulders on his upper arms, cuisses on his thighs and greaves on his shins. All made of the same spiky blackened steel and worn over a black hauberk with a hood covering his head. There was no armour on his chest or back, only the assorted straps from the rest of his armour.*

'There's a time and place for everything. It's so very much easier to blend into the shadows in black'

Phoebe clearly felt that three sentences of civilised conversation with a male was quite enough to be going on with. 'What? So you can run away and hide? I suppose that's why you don't have a breastplate; we wouldn't want you weighted down when you run away.'

Nico just laughed off the insult. 'Not quite, it suits my fighting style.'

A new hunter decided to try Nico-bashing. 'Running away isn't a fighting style, coward.' Unfortunately this hunter went somewhere even Phoebe wasn't stupid enough to go. 'I bet that's why Bianca left you; she was tired of spending her time with a coward.'

Nico froze. A circle of dead grass slowly spread around his feet. The crowd that had gathered to watch the confrontation stepped backwards when Nico changed. There was no discernible change but he was suddenly the scariest thing anyone in the vicinity had ever seen. Thalia would have gladly gone skydiving without a parachute if it meant she didn't have to spend another second near him. Needless to say, the entire Aphrodite cabin had long since fainted. He looked at the hunter and said, in a voice that oozed menace. 'Care to repeat that, hunter?'

The idiot hunter actually tried to before Thalia covered her mouth. 'No, no she wouldn't. So can we just pretend that nothing happened and call it quits?'

Another laugh. No amusement this time. It sounded like all the souls in Hades laughing at the doomed. 'Oh I think not.' He strapped on his sword belt, slung a shield on his back and strapped a dagger to his thigh. He stalked off towards the nearest shadow, a trail of dead grass following in his wake.

Thalia broke the terrified silence. 'So, are you still in capture the flag later?'

Nico's face broke into a vampiric smile. 'How else am I going to get my revenge?' Then he melted into the shadow.

-.-

It was silent for several seconds until Phoebe spoke up. 'We're all dead, aren't we?'  
>Thalia sighed. 'Yes Phoebe, yes we are.'<p>

* * *

><p>*Think the Rogue's Armour of the Champion from Dragon Age II but with any red replaced with black. If you're not sure what that that looks like just google it.<p> 


	3. Chapter the third

Hah! Look at that! The first time I've ever got round to writing a third chapter for a story, even if it did take three months. Meh...

Seeing as no-one commented on which style of formatting was easier to read I just haven't bothered to change anything in either of the first two chapters.

But my thanks to those who did review.

* * *

><p>Nico's revenge had gone well. Only now he had a problem. There was this tiny little niggling feeling he hadn't felt in years, not since before he found out his ex was cheating on him. And it popped up every time someone mentioned Thalia. Yes, he, Nico di Angelo, felt <em>guilty<em>. Thalia hadn't really deserved to be included in his revenge. Which left only two options available to Nico: live with this unpleasant feeling until he forgot about it or apologise to Thalia. The second option would hurt his pride and, knowing Thalia, his body too but Nico had a very long memory and no intention of feeling guilty for the next decade. So apologise he would. He had a good idea of where she would be so he lit the fag he knew he'd need to get through this encounter and stepped into the nearest shadow.

-.-

And out of the one cast by Zeus' Fist.

'What do _you_ want?' Thalia was sitting on top of the rocks looking decidedly unhappy to see him.

Nico ran his free hand through his hair, squared his shoulders and decided to man the fuck up. 'I came to apologise.' Then winced in preparation for the verbal barrage he was sure would be coming.

Thalia didn't disappoint. 'Oh so that makes it all better does it! Louise is a quivering wreck! The rest won't leave the cabin; they're literally jumping at shadows! But it's all better now because Nico says he's sorry.'

Nico held up a finger. 'Who's Louise?' He asked, effectively defusing Thalia mid rant.

'Louise is the one who insulted Bianca.' She replied, looking rather put out at being interrupted. 'What did you even do to them? None of them will talk about it.'

'Do you know what the shadow realm is' Thalia shook her head. 'It's the... oh, I don't know, realm, area thing I go through when I shadow travel. Normally I pass through pretty much instantaneously but this time I pulled Louise through and waited about twenty seconds before going back. It's a scary place. I killed the rest from the shadows one by one. Took my time about it too. By the end they were so jumpy one actually shot Phoebe when she stepped on a twig.' Nico thought for a moment before adding. 'I can get... sadistic when I'm angry.'

'You can say that again.' Thalia snorted.

'I can get... sadistic when I'm angry.'

Thalia punched him. 'Idiot.' But she was grinning.

'Oi! You made me drop my fag!' Nico exclaimed, then began grumbling. 'I knew this would get me punched.'  
>'You'll get over it, I'm sure.' She paused for a second then asked. 'Why did you kill me first? I don't get it. For that matter why get revenge on all the hunters? Why not just Louise?'<p>

Nico's face grew sombre. 'Louise was the only one stupid enough to actually say it but all the other hunters were thinking it, and would have said it if they dared.'

Thalia protested. 'But I didn't, I wouldn't!

Nico just smiled sadly. 'I know. You were just...' He gestured helplessly. 'Tainted by association. You didn't deserve that. It's why I killed you first; I figured it was a mercy. It's also why I'm apologising to you now.

Thalia nodded slowly. 'I think I understand.' Then turned to him with fire in her eyes. 'But don't think just because you can step out of a shadow and stab me in the back it means you can take me in a fair fight. Understand?'

Nico scoffed. 'Oh please! I never fight fair. I might lose, and we can't be having that now can we?'

'I suppose not.' Thalia replied, nodding sagely. 'Y'know you're acting differently to the other day.'

Nico Laughed. 'Do you have any idea how much effort it takes to appear enigmatic?' He produced a cigarette box. 'D'you mind?' He asked.

'Go ahead, but you know passive smoking's a killer don't you?'

'What do you care? You're an immortal.' Nico replied with a bemused shake of the head. He lit his smoke, took a pull then gave a relieved sigh. 'Besides, these won't ruin any lives while they kill me. You could say it's the best deadly addiction to have.'

'They'll ruin your fitness, then how will you get your revenge on an entire pack of hunters, eh?'

Nico put on a face of mock surprise. 'Why Thalia you sound almost concerned for my wellbeing. Are you allowed to be?'

Thalia laughed, then punched him again. 'Piss off death breath.'

Nico just sighed. 'I can see this is going to be a recurring feature of our conversations.' He grumbled, rubbing his arm.

'Well if you'd stop taking the piss...'

'Mocking lesser beings amuses me.' Nico said archly.

Another punch. 'And just who are you calling a lesser being?'`

Nico scowled, rubbing his arm again. 'Has anyone ever told you you've got a good arm? No? Or is it just me you punch?'

'You're the first I've had to punch more than once to get them to shut up.'

He grunted. 'I'll be taking that as a compliment.' Then, standing up. 'Anyhoo, as much as I'd love to sit here and be beaten up all day Chiron has me on Kitchen duty so I'd better go.'

Thalia was stunned. 'All that and you just got Kitchen duty?'

Nico snorted. 'For the next three months. He spent an hour having a go as well but I just tuned him out and nodded whenever it seemed appropriate.'

'Three months actually seems a little excessive.'

He just shrugged. 'Meh, we all know I'm not going to be doing any work. Having minions is great.' With that he threw his cigarette butt on the floor, ground it out with his heel and set off towards the nearest shadow.

He was just about to whisk himself off to the kitchens when Thalia spoke. 'Um... Nico?' Sounding more unsure than he'd ever heard her.

'I think that's the first time you've ever said my name.' He replied with his favourite mocking grin adorning his face.

'Oh just shut up and listen will you?' Thalia waited until Nico had finished his "Shutting up and listening" pantomime before she carried on. 'It's about what you said the other day. If you were in my situation and you wanted to leave the hunt how would you go about it?' Immediately realising that she had sounded far more vulnerable than she ever wanted to sound Thalia jabbed Nico in the chest with a finger. 'Not that I'm saying that I'm ever going to leave the hunt, especially not just 'cause some grumpy son of Hades said he thinks I should. Ok?'

Nico nodded vigorously. Hard enough for Thalia to suspect he was taking the piss but not enough for her to call him on it. 'Oh of course. And in this entirely hypothetical situation how did a man become a hunter?' He paused to grin triumphantly only to hurriedly continue when he noticed Thalia clench her fist. 'Of course that doesn't really matter in this fictional scenario.' The fist relaxed. Nico sighed and actually began making an effort to be helpful. 'I would ask Artemis to release me from the oath, obviously.' Well, as helpful as he ever was.

Thalia, however, was all business. 'And if she wouldn't?'

Nico just shrugged. 'Then I'd be fucked.' Noticing the confusion on Thalia's face he explained a bit further. 'Figuratively. I'm a stunningly loyal person and I never break my word. It's the other side of the holding grudges thing.' He shrugged again. 'But you? If you were sure about leaving then you'd have to break the oath and get yourself kicked out.'

Thalia nodded pensively. 'Hmm...' Then snapped out of her reverie. 'Thanks Nico.'

'T'was a pleasure milady.' He said, giving a very extravagant and very mocking bow. Then wisely skipped out of punching range. 'But I really do have to go. I'll see you around lass.' But when he reached his shadow he turned to give a bit of proper advice. 'Thalia?' She looked up. 'Whatever happens just remember that it's your decision. Not Artemis', not the hunt's and certainly not mine. Yours.' Then instead of simply vanishing into the shadow he slowly faded away. For dramatic effect.


End file.
